Psychological impact of COVID-19 on individuals with prior trauma

The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first recognized in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The World Health Organization Emergency Committee declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a global health emergency and a pandemic in early 2020. Due to the lack of unequivocally effective methods of treatment for the coronavirus disease, governments enforced nonpharmacological interventions to decrease the transmission of the coronavirus including social distancing, isolation, and shelter in place to stop the spread of COVID-19. The scale of the pandemic, the speed of the spread, and high mortality rate created a sense of panic, stress, and helplessness among individuals worldwide. COVID-19 has been described as a killer virus, which has created a sense of danger and anxiety. This stressful unpredicted event prevented people from going to work, being active, and performing their daily tasks. This, combined with conflicted messages from authorities, caused worsening of mental health in individuals with a previous history of psychological illness. The use of mental health and suicide prevention helplines increased drastically during the current pandemic (Armour et al., 2020). The purpose of this study is to assess the link between anxiety and obsession over COVID-19 among individuals with a previous history of mental health conditions. It is hypothesized that anxiety, anxious thoughts, and coronavirus reassurance-seeking behaviors may be significantly higher among individuals with a history of previous trauma than individuals without a history of trauma. It is also hypothesized that individuals with prior trauma experienced trauma-related stress due to anxiety over the coronavirus more significantly than individuals without a history of trauma exposure. In addition, potential factors, such as age and gender that may contribute to or mitigate mental health burden\u27s effects will be explored. The sample will consist of participants with and without a history of a mental health condition. They will be asked to complete online the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale, and the Coronavirus Reassurance Seeking- Behaviors Scale. Mental health professionals and policy makers should be aware of the adverse effects of enforced nonpharmacological interventions to stop the pandemic on society. Results from this study will contribute to the research toward creating new interventions that would include awareness of challenging experiences and facilitate the acceptance of unpleasant pandemic memories and adaptation to a “new normal” life

Exploring the Predictive Values of Self-evaluations and Cognitive Distortions in Relation to Childhood Anxiety among Hispanic/Latino Youth

The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-evaluation and cognitive distortions are predictors of anxiety in Hispanic/Latino youth. Hispanic/Latino elementary- and middle-school students (n = 84) from Grades 4 through 8 (42.9% female; average age = 11.80 years) attending a bilingual inner-city public charter school completed self-reports of anxiety, self-evaluation, and cognitive distortions in their school setting. The selected measure of cognitive distortions, Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (Yurica & DiTomasso, 2005), was revised and factor analyzed for the current child sample. Findings demonstrated that, while taking grade and gender into account, different domains of self-evaluation and cognitive distortions significantly predicted overall anxiety symptoms. Additionally, various subtypes of anxiety-related symptoms were found to be negatively correlated with certain domains of self-evaluation and positively related to nearly all types of cognitive distortions. These findings provide support for previously established connections between self-evaluation, cognitive distortions, and anxiety. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that such connections exist in Hispanic/Latino youth. Given the significant predictive relationships identified in the present study, targeting specific domains of self-evaluation and cognitive distortions within the treatment of anxiety may result in greater symptom reduction

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in Latino Youth

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) is seen in some children and may include: daydreaming, inconsistent alertness, absentmindedness, behaving or thinking slowly, appearing tired after enough sleep, and lacking energy. The symptoms can be divided into two domains: cognitive and behavioral. SCT is associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). SCT can impact academic and social functioning and be associated with elevated anxiety and depression. Literature on SCT focuses mainly on Caucasian children. Objectives: To examine the prevalence of SCT and external correlates in a case study of four Latino children. Methods: A case study where parents completed questionnaires about their child’s behaviors. Results: Four out of thirteen respondents endorsed SCT symptoms for their child. Of the four children, one showed a cognitive, one a behavioral, and two a combined presentation. Two met the threshold for ADHD inattentive type. One showed moderate academic difficulty and two showed below average peer interactions. One met the threshold for generalized anxiety disorder, and two met the threshold for separation anxiety disorder. Sub-clinical symptoms of depression were endorsed for two of the children. Conclusion: The case sample provides support for further study of SCT including the heterogeneity of symptoms and two symptom clusters in a Latino population. SCT was seen across age, grade level, and gender and impacted several domains of functioning

Sleep, Communicative Ability, and Dietary Intervention as Predictors of Aggression in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Aggression is a common behavioral issue in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Aggression is often treated with evidence-based behavioral treatments such as applied behavioral analysis and functional communication training. One form of intervention that has grown in popularity is to alter the child’s diet. The most popular dietary intervention, the Autism Diet, has been utilized as a form of behavior management by parents and guardians for children diagnosed with ASD to address aggressive behavior, however its use has not been strongly supported by research. We propose that a more beneficial way of understanding aggression in ASD is to understand aggression through the lens of the frustration-aggression hypothesis. According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis, aggressive acts can stem from aggression-activating affect caused by factors such as physical pain, irritation, and psychological discomfort. It is proposed that children with ASD turn to aggressive behavior when experiencing these irritants due to the communicative challenges they face as a part of ASD. This study examined the use of the Autism Diet, sleep disturbance, and communicative ability as predictors of aggression in children diagnosed with ASD. Use of the diet and lower communicative ability were significantly and positively correlated with aggressive episodes while sleep disturbance was not. These findings did not find support for use of the Autism Diet in reducing aggression; however, they should be interpreted with caution due to the retrospective nature of the data

Inventory of Cognitive Distortions-Youth Version: The Development and Validation of a Psychometric Test for the Measurement of Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive distortions are systematic biases in an individual’s thinking that maintain a person’s belief in their negative views of themselves or others, even in the presence of contradictory evidence. The Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (ICD), created by Yurica and DiTomasso, provided a template to measure distorted thinking in adults. Currently, there is not a youth measure of cognitive distortions that adequately encapsulates the range of distorted thinking that may be present in youth. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to create and validate a newly designed instrument of cognitive distortions, The Inventory of Cognitive Distortions-Youth Version (ICD-YV), with youth ages 11 to 17. Participants will be recruited through social media, ResearchMatch.org, local school and community organizations and local business and university listservs. The psychometric properties (content validity, construct validity, convergent validity and internal reliability) of the ICD-YV will be assessed. Identifying a valid and reliable tool to evaluate cognitive distortions in youth is needed to facilitate better identification of these patterns of thinking and provide more accurate and targeted treatment, from a cognitive-behavioral perspective

The predictive validity of parent and teacher reports of ADHD symptoms

The objectives were to evaluate the ability of the Inattention and Hyperactivity-Impulsivity factors of the ADHD Rating Scale-IV to differentiate children with ADHD from a control group and to discriminate children with different subtypes of ADHD. Also, we sought to determine optimal cutoff scores on the teacher and parent versions of this scale for making diagnostic decisions about ADHD. In a sample of 92 boys and girls 6 to 14 years of age referred to a regional ADHD program, we assessed ADHD diagnostic status using categorical and dimensional approaches as well as parent- and teacher-report measures. Logistic regression analyses showed that the Inattention and Hyperactivity-Impulsivity factors of the ADHD Rating Scale-IV were effective in discriminating children with ADHD from a control group and differentiating children with ADHD, Combined Type from ADHD, Inattentive Type. Although both teacher and parent ratings were significantly predictive of diagnostic status, teacher ratings made a stronger contribution to the prediction of subtype membership. Using symptom utility estimates, optimal cutoff scores on the Inattention and Hyperactivity-Impulsivity scales for predicting subtypes of ADHD were determined

Exploring the psychological impacts, including coping and conflict resolution of transnationalism on parent-child relationships.

Introduction: The number of immigrants migrating to the United States has increased over the past thirty years. Many immigrants who migrate to the United States leave behind their family members including spouses and children, creating transnational families. Although there are some studies that have focused on the experiences of transnational families, there is a need for continued research to better understand the psychological impact of separation and reunification.[WU1] Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify if there has been any psychological impact due to the separation and reunification process experienced by transnational families, and to explore if there are any coping strategies that they employed to manage potential reactions to separation and reunification. Hypothesis: The researcher will explore the possible psychological impact of family separation, due to migration, on children who were separated from a parent. The researcher will also explore how families cope with family separation due to migratory reasons. Proposed Methods: This study will use a qualitative design to better understand the experiences of adolescents and their parents, who were separated due to parental migration to the United States from their native country. Participants will be recruited from two social services agencies in New Jersey. The participants will include six adolescents who are of Hispanic or Latino descent, speak Spanish or English, are between the ages of 12 to 19 years old, and arrived to the United States within the past five years, and one of their parents. The researcher will be using a semi-structured interview to interview the participants (questions will revolve around parent child relationship, separation experience, reunification experience, and methods of coping). The interview will take place virtually via Zoom. The researcher will interview the adolescent individually and then their parent. Proposed Analysis: The researcher will utilize the qualitative method of grounded theory to analyze the interviews. Implications: Although transnational families who migrate to the United States share the experience of migrating to the same country, not every migrant has the same experience with migration. A better understanding of this population’s various experiences can help guide clinicians towards improving client care and identifying best practices for this population

Cognitive-behavioral treatments

The present paper provides an overview of the guiding theory and descriptive features of the cognitive-behavioral approach to psychosocial interventions for youths. Cognitive-behavioral treatment has been applied to various disorders including anxiety, aggression, depression, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, pain, and learning disabilities. Research on the nature of these disorders, a description of related treatment strategies, and an illustrative review of treatment outcome data is provided. Discussion focuses on a consideration of familial involvement, developmental factors, and methodological issues (i.e., comorbidity and normative comparisons) that require research attention. © 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporation

Maternal expectations and attributions about coping in anxious children

This study examined maternal expectations and attributions regarding their child\u27s ability to cope with a stressful situation. Children either met DSM III-R criteria for an Anxiety Disorder or were normal. Results indicated that it was not the perception of threat that, differentiated the expectations of mothers in both groups, but rather their expectations for coping, both generally and in terms of specific behavior. Mothers of anxiety-disorder (AD) children expected their children to be more upset, less able to make themselves feel comfortable, and were less confident in their children\u27s abilities to perform task related behavior. In general, maternal expectations for coping appear to reflect the actual lower coping ability of anxious children. Concerning attributions, mothers of AD children made fewer causal distinctions between high and low coping than did mothers of normal control (NC) children. Discussion considers how lowered expectations for coping may relate to protective parenting and how such patterns may unwittingly maintain anxious behavior in children

DSM-IV and internalizing disorders: Modifications, limitations, and utility

The recent publication of DSM-IV evidences changes in the areas of child anxiety and, to a lesser degree, depressive disorders. A summary of the DSM-IV criteria for childhood anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as modifications in diagnostic criteria from DSM-III-R to DSM-IV are presented. A brief review of major research findings regarding anxiety and depression in children also is provided, and DSM-IV is evaluated in terms of its grounding in empirical research. The utility of DSM-IV for school psychology is discussed, including a delineation of essential criteria for diagnosis and the need to determine the functional impact of a disorder. Finally, potential limitations of DSM-IV are examined